Entering the Mind of a Serial Killer

Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic.

Most people in Kenya believe or rather associate Psychology with mind reading. The science was first introduced in the country in 1966, as an academic program in the United States International University-Africa.

Many lack sufficient knowledge of Psychology because they rely on the intrigues and counter intrigues that they witness in shows like, The Mentalist, Lie to Me and Criminal Minds. A psychologist is not a mind reader- he/she is a person who studies behaviour and mental processes more often than not linking the two to better understand human beings and animals.

Philip Onyancha claims to to have killed 17 victims in various parts of Kenya where he worked as a security guard. Photo/Fredrick Onyango.

The buzz in Kenya right now is caused by a young man, Philip Onyancha, a self-confessed serial killer. He has been working as a security guard with the G4S Company in Kenya until two months ago when he was fired. The man has confessed to killing 17 people and has taken the police to the places where he hid the bodies of his victims. He has also confessed to killing many prostitutes after having sex with them in the towns of Thika, Naivasha and Nyeri. All this also makes me highlight the fact that the criminal justice system in Kenya is a mess! The police keep no records of the people taken into custody, the courts throw out so many cases because of insufficient evidence, and the jails are nothing but a health risk to those sent there, but what does all this mean?

Onyancha, when asked his reasons for committing these crimes, simply answered “For the blood.” Now, this is where I was appalled! The police called in a psychiatrist to try and talk to him in an attempt to psychoanalyse the young man. I have nothing against psychiatrists because they work hand-in-hand with psychologists, but for this case I had a problem, what was the psychiatrist going to do? Was he going proclaim that Philip Onyancha had a mental disorder, say Schizophrenia, for example? Or was he going to commit him to medication after a clinical assessment? Onyancha’s wife and mother claim that the man they know is not a killer, because he was so humble and loving and a joyful person. But I have learned enough in Psychology to know that anyone can be dysfunctional and still put on a show of normality for social acceptance without giving any indication of his or her deviant acts.

So it would appear that Kenya needs to embrace Psychology because it looks at what makes society possible. It is a look at human behaviour, relationships, what prompts our actions and how to harmonize all aspects of our living. It is sad to say that in my country there are no laws or institutions set up to control the practice of psychology or to enhance it. There are many people around Nairobi who have set up offices, proclaiming that they are counsellors. But a professional counsellor needs to have attained at least a Post Doctorate in the field before setting up office and providing services. The result is that many Kenyans end up feeling “duped” and want nothing to do with the science.

Psychology faces so many challenges in Kenya; firstly, there is no body or institution registered under the government to control the practices that are set up by individuals. Secondly, there are no laws regulating these standards. Thirdly, there are very few universities offering the science as an academic program, and those that do have their graduates travel abroad to seek more training and experience. And the greatest challenge is that of religion, many religious people view psychology as a substitute of faith rather than a partner in ensuring the welfare of human beings and humanity as a whole.

Kenya needs to embrace Psychology to because like every country in Africa, we are heavily influenced by the West. We have borrowed their culture and ideologies and are struggling to fit them into ours without fully understanding them. The result of this has been nothing but chaos! We need to embrace Psychology because whenever we have societal problems, or issues as individuals, we cannot sit back and hope that they will one day go away, rather, we have to find the root cause of these problems, analyse them, and then figure a way out.

We should not wait for serial killers to confess to murders or for teenage pregnancies to be on the increase before seeking psychological help. We should learn more about the practice of psychology, embrace it, and use it effectively to see to a better Kenya.